Brand Photography Composition Tip: Framing
Today I have another photo composition tip for you! This tip can be applied to any photos you take but I’ll be primarily talking about it from a brand photography perspective (no pun intended 😅).
In photo composition, framing is where you shoot through something to create a frame like feeling around a subject that draws your eye towards the main focal point of the photo. An example of framing is shooting through a doorframe or window as shown in the photos below.
Framing your subject like this will draw the viewer’s eyes into a certain focal point within the frame.
When framing your subject with a window you can either shoot through the window or not like these photos show:
But framing isn’t limited to things like windows! There are so many other ways you can use framing! For instance, below are some examples from a hair salon that I photographed recently. One shows how you can use something like a mirror to reflect back your subject inside a frame, the other shows how taking a photo of someone else taking a photo on their phone can have a similar effect. An important thing to note in both of these photos is the shallow depth of field that gives even more of a sense of framing to the photos. If you are not familiar with shallow depth of field, it’s the use of a low f/stop to keep a large part of the photo out of focus. For reference, in these photos I am using f/2.8.
Framing is a great way to add context and environment to your photos, telling more of the story behind what is happening. It’s also a great way to add depth into your photo because you are adding another layer that is usually out of focus and gives the feeling of the subject being further away from you.
One last tip when framing is to make sure that the frame you are using is not as brightly lit as the subject you are framing. This is because our eyes are drawn towards lighter, brighter areas of a photograph so it will further enhance your framing and subject.
If you found this blog post on composition helpful, check out these other posts too: The Rule of Odds, The S Curve, and Diagonals and Leading Lines.